


Mia

by apocryphile



Category: West Wing
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-14
Updated: 2011-09-14
Packaged: 2017-10-23 18:13:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/253381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apocryphile/pseuds/apocryphile
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Donna gets some joyful news from a friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mia

**Author's Note:**

> Just some cutesy fluff I couldn't extract from my brain by any other means.

It was one of those blearily early mornings when no one can remember why the dawn meeting was that important in the first place. Even Josh, who never slept very much, felt sluggish and annoyed. He was still shovelling files out of his backpack when Donna burst in. He was expecting a tirade about the ungodliness of the hour but when he turned around, she was beaming. He braced himself.

"Guess what, Josh?"

He racked his brain for a sarcastic comeback but she barely paused for breath.

"Steph's having a baby!"

He felt his mood lighten instantly and grinned at her.

"Hey, that's fantastic news! When's she due?"

She looked at him like he'd grown a second head.

"C'mon, I've been around at least one pregnant woman before."

"She's just into her second trimester. Middle of May."

He nodded.

"We should block off a weekend around then so you can go visit."

The delighted look she shot him would fuel his entire day.

"Oh, Josh!"

She threw her arms around his neck with such force he nearly toppled over. He steadied himself and hugged her back, but pulled away after a few moments, thinking about the arbitrariness of boundaries.

"You're the best boss ever."

"Can I get that in writing?"

"No. I enjoy the sympathy from the others when you give them just cause - as you regularly do - to think you're a heartless slave driver."

"Good to know."

He reached out and lightly touched her cheek, pausing for a second before he turned away and went back to the heaps of paper on his desk. He heard her heels clatter away and then return as she started to reel off his schedule.

\------

Mia Louisa Gault-Rivera was born at 4.13am on April 24th 2001, two weeks early but weighing in at a respectable 7lbs exactly. Josh had the pleasure of relaying the news to Donna - who screamed and kissed him in front of CJ and Carol when they arrived together - after taking a call just shy of 6am from the dazed new father who had called his wife's best friend's work number by mistake. She was too excited to notice that the brief, surreal conversation with the man he'd never met had left her boss a little misty-eyed, but CJ had given him a pointed look and motioned for him to come and see her.

He let Donna use his office to call Steph and used the phone on her desk to rearrange her flights for the upcoming weekend rather than three weeks away. He went back in and found her sitting on his desk with tears pouring down her cheeks and a huge grin. He sat next to her and rested his arm against her back.

She turned to him and started wiping her eyes.

"Babies are just the best thing ever, you know?"

He would have agreed with her anyway but he found himself meaning it.

"I know. I, uh, I changed your flights for you so you can be there when they go home. You should call your Mom."

She leaned into him and kissed him on the cheek.

“You’re the best.”

“Boss ever?”

“Just the best.”

He ruffled her hair.

“You can reward me by promising you’ll buy the kid some books rather than some hideous pink nonsense.”

“How about YOU buy the kid some books. I’ve already bought her some very tasteful little rompers that would have worked if she’d been a boy, too.”

“I…”

He was about to protest that he hadn’t been planning on buying the kid anything, but it occurred to him that the five minutes he’d spent convincing her Dad he wasn’t hallucinating and had actually called the White House was still at this point a meaningful percentage of the little girl’s three-and-a-half hour life. Josh realised he knew of the perfect gift, and decided he was going to kick-start Mia’s civic education. He got out his wallet.

“There’s a newish kid’s book called ‘A Big Cheese For The White House’. See if you can find a copy. And go buy her something frilly and pastel and get it out of your system.”

“Someone wrote a book about Big Block Of Cheese Day? How do you even know that?”

“Mallory got one for Leo.”

‘That’s so cute.”

“It’s a great book.”

“You READ it?”

Actually, CJ had bought it too, and read it aloud to him, Sam and Toby when they were all drunk at Thanksgiving, but he was pretty sure he wasn’t meant to tell anyone about that.

“Yeah.”

Once Donna had gone off to wash her face and then go shopping, he wandered over to CJ’s office. He passed Danny on the way out and CJ’s voice carried after him.

“1,100 subscriptions. 1,100!”

The men exchanged grins. The threat to pull the White House subscriptions to the Post came about once a fortnight. The reporter strolled off, unconcerned, and Josh closed CJ’s door behind him. She switched gears immediately and studied his face as he sat down on her couch. Joining him, she spoke quietly.

“Got a little tearful earlier, mi amor?”

He rubbed his face. He was totally busted.

“CJ, it was emotional. The guy just had his first kid. I know we’re all putting that stuff on hold for now but can’t I be, like, happy about it?”

“Oh, Josh. I’m not pissed at you.”

“You’re not? I thought you hated kids.”

“I love kids. I hate people who think it’s their business that I don’t have kids.”

“Oh.”

She narrowed her eyes at him.

“You, on the other hand… When Liz brought the baby to the campaign office I thought you were going to pass out.”

“This particular baby’s hundreds of miles away, CJ. I think I can cope.”

She laughed softly.

“I’m glad it’s getting through to you, though.”

“What is?”

“How special it is when a baby is born.”

He looked at her blankly.

“Ok. Um, why?”

“Because Donna’s going to be feeling like that times about a million for the next few weeks and you need to not be an ass to her about it.”

“I’m not being an ass, CJ. She kissed me twice today already, I think she’s pretty happy with me.”

“Twice? Josh… Let’s not talk about that right now. Except for me to say again, I trust you both, and I know you’re not stupid, but I also know you’re both really stupid, you know what I’m saying?”

“I know, CJ. We’re not… we haven’t been stupid. We’re still not…”

“Moving on.”

He breathed a sigh of relief. CJ had made it her mission to occasionally remind him what his options were, with regards Donna. She’d always made it clear she thought they were perfect for each other – in fact she was the one who had confirmed what he’d long hoped, that his feelings for his assistant were returned, but that Donna understood the stakes as well as he did (also CJ’s doing) – but she warned him sternly, over and over, that she’d have no choice but to publicly condemn any impropriety after the last administration’s appalling track record.

“Josh, this isn’t the life everyone wants. I know it’s hard for us to see that sometimes, but part of our job here is to represent the people who have made more traditional choices.”

“I know that.”

“I know you do. And I know you know that Donna hasn’t dreamed of this her whole life like you did.”

“Yeah. CJ, what…?”

“Josh, I’m not talking to you as the idiot who is hopelessly in love with her-“

“I’m not…”

“Hush. I’m talking to you as her boss. She’s probably going to spend some time thinking about her priorities, and feeling like she’s really far away from what Steph has right now. I just think you need to give her some space, and not freak out if she looks like she might want to change those priorities, and trust her to get over it. Because I’m sure she will.”

“What if she doesn’t?”

“Then we’ll have a conversation where you get to be the guy that’s hopelessly in love with her.”

“Oh God.”

“Don’t freak out, Josh.”

“I’m not freaking out.”

“You are, too. Donna loves her job as much as she loves you, or she wouldn’t be here. She’d have turned down your job offer the night we won and invited you back to her room instead.”

He gulped. He had seriously considered that decision, too.

“She told you that?”

“She didn’t have to.”

“CJ.”

“Joshua, my darling boy. This is going to happen to most of us a few times. Most of our friends are somewhere in the marriage and babies phase. When I got back from my college roommate’s wedding – her second, actually - last year I spent nearly a thousand dollars on lingerie I’ll never wear.”

“I’m not sure I needed to know that.”

“Yes you did.” She paused and smirked at him. “We freak out, and we get over it. Toby lent me the record of his divorce proceedings.”

Josh laughed.

“I’m getting Mia a copy of the Cheese book.”

CJ stood, and when he followed suit she hugged him quickly.

“You’re a good man, Joshua.”

\---------

He woke up with a start when Donna’s suitcase toppled over in the doorway to his office just before midnight on Sunday night. He hadn’t planned for her to be away this weekend and was ploughing his way through a backlog of emails accumulated while he dashed around between the Hill and the West Wing, late and underprepared for everything. He must have dozed off. He’d spent the night here last night, for the first time this year.

“God, Josh. I go away for two days and you fall apart.”

She was grinning widely, still.

He got up and stretched, and wandered over to her. He hadn’t decided whether to hug her when she did it for him, tugging at his shoulders until he relaxed against her. He could feel her energy buoying him.

“So, on a scale of one to ten, how cute is she?”

“Fifty. Josh, she’s perfect. And Steph’s a natural.”

“Of course she is. How’s James adjusting?”

“He’s doing great. Hey, he said you were incredibly sweet when he spoke to you.”

“It was hands down the nicest phone call I’ve ever taken in this office.”

She squeezed him, and shifted her arms around his shoulders so she could look at him.

“Steph asked me to be Mia’s Godmother.”

“Oh, wow, Donna, that’s huge. That’s amazing. You’re perfect.”

“You think? I’m not very religious…”

“Oh, Donna. For one thing, Steph wouldn’t have asked you if she didn’t think you were right. For another, Mia can go to Sunday School or whatever. You’ve got something special you can give her. You’re an amazing role model for a little girl to have.”

“I am?”

He unwrapped their arms and took her chin in his hand.

“Of course you are. You talked your way into a job at the White House, didn’t you?”

“I talked my way into a volunteer position on the campaign. You chose to hire me.”

“Damn right I did.”

“Josh, I’m only your assistant.”

“You’re not only anything, Donna. And you won’t be my assistant forever.”

They let that hang between them for a moment.

“Now c’mon, let’s go raid the mess. This is a celebration worthy of ice cream and I know you won’t have eaten anything on the plane.”

As they walked off, he wrapped his arm around her middle, and felt her fingers on his back. He was asking her whether she’d had a chance to read the Cheese book when they nearly collided with the President.

“Good evening, Mr President.”

President Bartlet smiled at both of them, his gaze lingering briefly over Josh’s hand at Donna’s waist.

“Josh, Donna, where are you two going at this hour on a Sunday?”

“The mess, sir. We’re celebrating. Donna’s going to be a Godmother.”

The President beamed.

“That is an important and wonderful responsibility, Donnatella. A very lucky child. A little girl, is that right? Mia?”

She smiled at his remembering the facts and wondered when Josh had possibly managed to drop her best friend’s baby into the conversation.

“Yes sir. Thank you. I’m very honoured.”

“As you should be. I considerately didn’t eat all the ice cream, so you can celebrate appropriately. Just promise me one thing.”

“What’s that, sir?”

“Don’t take any childcare advice from Josh. He’s terrified of my grandkids.”

“I’ll remember that, sir.”

“Your grandkids are great, sir.”

“I think so too, Joshua. Maybe you can babysit next time Liz brings them by.”

“I’m not sure that would be wise.”

“You’re probably right. Goodnight!”

“Goodnight, sir.”

They parted ways, and Josh steered Donna down the stairs to the mess. He went off in search of ice cream while she found sodas, and they picked out a table where they could just see a tiny slice of moonlight in the night sky above. Trading industrial sized cartons of strawberry and chocolate back and forth, they passed the time imagining who might be President when Mia was old enough to work at the White House. Josh stuck to delivering scathing critiques of the prospects of various wannabes from the Hill, not wanting to ruin the moment by sharing his carefully thought out but thus far private plans for Sam’s future.

Three days later, Donna returned to her desk after a very late night takeout run and found a beautiful pair of matching leather-bound bibles, one large and one small, sitting on her blotter next to the plane tickets she’d just booked for her Goddaughter’s christening. She opened the large one and found her name inscribed in the President’s distinctive hand. Inside the smaller one, she found a note.

“Dear Mia,

I hope you will read this book, learn it and love it, and know that you will find comfort and advice in it always.

God bless you.

Your friend,

President Jed Bartlet”

She hugged the small volume to her chest, not seeing her boss watching her silently on the other side of the glass partition. He gave her another minute before he walked over. Without saying anything, he tucked himself behind her and rested his head on her shoulder.

“Did you…?”

“A little. Charlie helped.”

“Josh, this is incredible, he didn’t have to…”

He hushed her. He wrapped an arm around her waist and spoke softly.

“In some parallel universe out there somewhere, you and I are having our first baby, and the wise old guy we didn’t quite manage to get elected is giving us a really hard time about raising her Jewish and trying to get us to teach her Latin or something. I know we’ve had to put some stuff on hold. I just wanted to celebrate this…”

He felt her nodding and knew she understood. She pivoted in his arms and took his face in his hands, and a few tears landed on his shirt. She took a deep breath, and then another. After a moment, she chuckled quietly.

“I’m not entirely sure it would have taken us this long to have a baby, you know.”

He laughed.

Across the hallway, CJ turned and tiptoed back to her office. Tomorrow, she’d haul Josh out of earshot of the press and loudly threaten to make Leo trade assistants with him if he couldn’t keep his hands to himself at the very least when in full view of the entire West Wing. But tonight she was happy for her friends. They’d found something incredibly rare and precious in each other, and she felt more certain than ever that they’d get to enjoy it in the end.

**Author's Note:**

> This probably takes some liberties with exactly how close Donna and Steph were actually meant to be in Emergency/Jail, but then Josh seemed to know her pretty well, so...


End file.
